Praise
by Shi-shiNata
Summary: One-shot. Rather dark for me. Praise can be everything to a young child, and in many cases, children who do not receive enough don't end up as good as Harry Potter, they crack.


_**A/N: I wanted to wright something for my Rose Potter fanfic, but I had just finished watching some crime shows, and realized I wouldn't be able to work on such a happy story, so this one-shot was born.**_

_**Praise**_

**by Shi-shiNata**

To many young children, praise is everything. Being told that you are wonderful, that they are proud of you, that you are so smart, strong, pretty, fast, clever, the list can go on and on. Too much praise, especially if undeserved, however, can make a child arrogant, a bully. Too little or none at all, can make them either ill-confident, shy, depressed, or even all the above; they become desperate for praise.

So why is it, that Harry Potter was so strong? One of the worst things you can do to the development of a child is to never show them any of the appreciation they deserve, while constantly dishing it out to one not so deserving. Over time, a child with too little praise, may become bitter, hateful, and unwilling to tell the difference between deserved and undeserved praise.

It is fairly obvious that Harry Potter never received any praise from his family, and the little praise he got at school he was punished for because of the lies from his arrogant, bully of a cousin. Lies that his Aunt and Uncle were to ready to believe.

The Harry Potter we read about in our stories always overcomes the constant tortures of his childhood. So why did he? Why didn't Harry Potter became a bitter, hateful, jealous child? Why didn't he snap?

XxxXXXxxx

Ten-year-olds Harry James Potter and Dudley Dursley of Number four Privet Drive both attend St. Gregory's Primary together. Now most do not know that the boys are related, let alone live together, in fact, almost nobody at the school but the teachers new this. And the teachers had a lot to say about these two ten-year-olds.

"Oh Dudley is such a sweet young gentleman, always walking the younger children home."

"Dudley is a very nice boy, once I saw him play hid-and-go-seek with some of his peers."

"Harry Potter is a nasty child, his poor uncle called me up the other day about how Mr. Potter cheated on his Math test."

"Mr. Potter is very rebellious and a liar, one time we caught him on top of the school roof, and he told us that the wind carried him up there!"

There was once one teacher, Mrs. Lilly Scones -"Poor dear, her husband died not too long ago, he was a demolition's expert in the army."- who caught Dudley steeling money from an under year, and gave him detention. She also almost told the authorities that not all was right in number four, but she quit before she could, and now owns a boarding house next to First Federal Savings and Loans.

One day, Harry and Dudley finally got their History exam from Mr. Davies, and when Harry saw that his grade was higher then Dudley by several points, something inside him _**cracked**_ a little, with the knowledge that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would be seeing it soon. Harry knew what happened to naughty little freaks who get higher grades then his Aunt and Uncle's precious little ball of joy.

So when Harry was walking home from school, his mind cracked a little more when he felt the bruises under his shirt. He knew that there was no chance of escape. At least, not with Dudley behind him, grin getting wider every step of the way.

When the two boys finally arrived at number four, Dudley pushed Harry to the side and ran into the house, eager to show off to his parents. As Petunia Dursley looked over his paper -what is that school thinking! These tests are much too advance for my Dinky Duddydums!- she noticed _the boy_ come in. When Harry showed her his grade, she yelled at him for cheating again. _**Crack**_

Petunia then told Harry to start of her garden, and to make sure to get dinner ready by the time Vernon comes home from work this time. Harry nods, sets his bookbag down, and leaves out the back door. On his way out, she praised Dudley for doing so well on his test.

Now, the imagination is a beautiful, wonderful thing most of the time, but it is not always. Gardening does not take much thought, and so Harry had plenty of time to imagine what would happen to him when his Uncle came home. _**Crack**_

Vernon Dursley was tired. While he did enjoy yelling at one of his coworkers today for a slight mistake on the monthly news letter at work, he had too complete many out of the way tasks today for his boss. All he wanted right now was to be home with his wife and son, sit on the couch, and watch the telly. He was not in the mood for the freak today, and had every intention of stuffing the boy into his cupboard once he got home.

When he got home, his lovely wife informed him about how the freak cheated on his test. When he took a step towards the trouble maker, the boy took a step back, and knocked over a vase- a gift from his sister.

When Harry saw the fire that lit up his Uncle's eyes when the crash echoed throughout the room, the vase was not the only thing that shattered. So Harry did something that he truly, desperately wanted to do, from the bottom of his heart. He picked up one of the broken pieces, and lunged.

_**Challenge: To write a second chapter to this one shot, all chapters I am notified of, a link shall be provided below.**_


End file.
